The Awakening
by friendoftheearth
Summary: Valentine's Day AU


My thanks to Sylvain for the beta work.

Dedicated to Dafydd (my soulmate)

The Awakening

Ten minutes I've been in work and already I'm willing the phone to ring, hoping some poor sod somewhere will break down and ring for help. Cain's getting on my nerves, is winding me up like only he can. I'm not in the best of moods anyway, and he's just making it worse. It's Cain's turn to go on a call out, so that would mean I'd be left on my own, and I like being on my own right now. I can be miserable to my heart's content. And I am miserable, have been for the last couple of weeks, ever since breaking up with Jackson. We had one almighty row and haven't seen each other since.

At first, I'd been too angry to call him, to make the first move. I didn't think I had anything to apologise for, after all, the argument was all Jackson's fault. At least that's what I believed at the time. Well, he'd been the one wanting to do something special on Valentine's Day, he'd been the one wanting to mark it in some soppy, romantic way. The idea just hadn't appealed to me.

I don't know why people make such a fuss about the day. Wasn't it just another thing to waste your hard-earned money on, just another ploy the shops use to drag you in off the street to then rob you blind?

If you like someone, love someone, why isn't telling them to their face enough? Why does it have to involve flowers, chocolates, cards... the list of such love tokens is endless, it seems to me.

If we were to do something, why couldn't we have kept it simple, something I felt more comfortable doing... like having a few lagers at Bar West? What was wrong with that idea? Well, just about everything according to Jackson! It was something we did on a regular basis, something we could do seven nights a week if we so wanted to. Jackson had called me a miserable prat on hearing that suggestion, something he tended to call me when he wasn't getting his own way over something. And Jackson had, as it turned out, had Valentine's Day all planned in his head. He wanted us both to take the day off work, and spend it together doing things we hadn't done before, and then end the day with some posh nosh in some fancy hotel.

If I'm honest, the idea just threw me. For starters, Cain wouldn't have given me the day off, we have a lot of work on at the minute and I know he'd have kicked up a fuss and said he couldn't spare me. And as for the expense? Well, I don't earn as much as Jackson does, and I like to pay my way, and I just don't have that kind of cash right now. When I told Jackson that, he said he'd square it with Cain and that it was to be his treat. I realise now how much the idea meant to him, but I didn't at the time. At the time, I just moaned and protested, shot his romantic gesture down in flames.

It hurt him, I know it did, and he reacted by telling me I didn't have a romantic bone in my body, that I didn't know the first thing about relationships and so didn't belong in one. That last part not only hurt, it angered me too, and I spat something hurtful back. Of course, it all went downhill from there, the humdinger of an argument ending with me storming off... but not before telling Jackson to go to hell.

In the time since, I've realised I was at fault. I've not been able to admit that to him though, that stubborn, proud streak of mine has been getting in the way, just like it always does. I wanted him to make the first move; I wanted him to come find me. I selfishly wanted him to prove his feelings. But he hasn't and I'm left asking why. Is he happy with the split? Has he realised it's what he wants? Has he realised he's better off without me? And there's always that nagging fear that he's met someone else, that he's already moved on from me.

The thought of him with someone else tears at my heart, I love him... I've not told him that, well I didn't know that what I was feeling for him was love. But I do now. And I think, at least I want to believe, that he loves me or did until I trampled so thoughtlessly all over his feelings. I think that was why he wanted to make today special, that he was going to make his true feelings known to me today. That's the sort of thing he'd do, he is romantic and mores to the point, he's not afraid to show it. It's not going to happen now though, is it? I've put a stop to that!

What the...?

One of those fancy black limousines has just pulled into the forecourt. I've never worked on one of them before, I wonder what the problem is. Before I have chance to ask, the driver, or is it chauffeur, is talking to me...

"Mr. Aaron Livesy?"

"Yeah!" How'd he know my name? Has someone recommended me? Well, I am good at what I do, even if I do say so myself.

The driver opens a rear door and gestures for me to get inside. "What?" I ask, quickly going on to demand, "Why?" Why would I want to get in there, what the hell's going on?

The driver slips his hand into his pocket and pulls out an envelope which he then hands to me.

The envelope's got my name on it... the handwriting is heartwarmingly familiar... I tear it open, eager to see what's inside. It's a sheet of paper with the words '_Get in, you Muppet' _written across it. My bad mood evaporates, a smile forms instantaneously on my face. The 'invitation' is definitely from Jackson! He knows me so well, knew I'd need coaxing into the limo.

I make for the car then suddenly remember where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing. I turn around, expecting Cain to make some sort of protest, but he's got a 'go on, what are you waiting for' look on his face. Something tells me he knew all about this.

I'm expecting to find Jackson inside the limo... but he's not! Where is he then? The limo must be taking me to him. I realise with a jolt that I'm in my work overalls, that the clothes I'm wearing beneath them are old, scruffy. I look a mess. How can I go anywhere looking like this?

The limo moves off and I reach into my pocket for my phone, I've decided to ring Jackson, ask him what... the limo's just stopped, the door opening. What? I'm supposed to get out already?

I scramble back out into the wintery sunshine... and find myself outside the Smithy. Paddy's standing at the door wearing a silly grin on his face, it seems he knew about this too!

"C'mon..." He orders, "Get your backside in gear."

"Paddy?" I'm not sure just what I'm supposed to do and seeing my confusion, he steers me inside and points upstairs telling me to "go change and pack enough stuff for a couple of days."

I do as I'm told, for once, without arguing or questioning the instructions.

I'm back downstairs in no time, the excitement building with each passing minute, so too my longing to see Jackson.

The driver's already back behind the wheel, so Paddy escorts me to the limo, and with me safely inside, shuts the door and then stands there waving me off.

I call to the driver, hoping he'll tell me where I'm going, but either he can't hear me through the partitioning glass or he's choosing not to, because I get no response.

Five minutes into the journey, curiosity gets the better of me and I ring Jackson, the call goes straight to voicemail. I'm disappointed but somehow not surprised.

Twenty or so minutes later, I start to suspect where it is we're heading, I've seen umpteen signs for the airport through the darkened glass, and we seem to be following their directions. But the airport? What the heck has he got planned? Whatever it is, I don't deserve it.

Just minutes later, the limo stops, the airport entrance just feet away. I can't see Jackson anywhere and so I hesitate, only when I hear the driver open his door do I decide to make a move. I don't want him opening the door for me like I'm some 'ladi'.

There's lots of people about, a sea of faces, but not one of them the face I want so desperately to see. Where the hell is he?

I sense the driver beside me and I turn to look at him... only it's not him... well, it is, but it's not! It's not the one who picked me up, handed me the invitation. But it is the one who brought me here...

Suited. Cap on head. Smug grin plastered across his face... Jackson! He drove me here but how? The two of them must have changed places when I was in Paddy's.

Like Paddy, Jackson sees my confusion and says, "I thought you might still be angry with me and..."

"No!" I'm more than a little bewildered by the elaborate ploy to get me here, but I'm certainly not angry with Jackson, how could I be?

Gesturing behind him, to the airport terminal, Jackson said, "So you're ok with this?"

"Whatever this is, yeah, more than ok, I just want to be with you." Whether this turns out to be a tour around the airport, a fifteen-minute thrill flight or something a little further afield, I really don't care as long as Jackson is by my side.

"Paris!"

"Paris? As in Paris, France?" No, he wasn't taking me there, was he? Yeah, of course he was. Wasn't it supposed to be the most romantic city in the world? Jackson had so wanted to do something especially romantic today, it seemed he still did.

"If you don't want to go there, I'll settle for fish and chips in Whitby..."

"I do!" Of course I want to go there with him. I'd go anywhere with him. And this is the perfect opportunity to show him that I do have some romance in my soul... it's another emotion he's awakened in me. Eager to prove it, I pull him into my arms and with a tender lingering kiss, express my love and devotion.

End

Happy Valentine's Day


End file.
